jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
DURHAM -- Even with Jasmine Thomas scoring 28 points to lead Duke to a 78-72 win over Southern Cal on Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, it took the rest of the Blue Devils to pull out the victory.
Karima Christmas, who finished with 12 points, hit the shot that put the Blue Devils up for good with 6:30 left in the game. Allison Vernerey notched her first double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. And Joy Cheek, who scored 12 points, sparked one of Duke's second-half runs that brought the Blue Devils back into striking range.
"You just have to stay calm in games like this," Cheek said. "It was a fun game to play with the way it went back and forth. I knew the game would be tough."
Southern Cal (4-4) pushed Duke (7-1) almost to the limit except it turned the ball over 22 times and allowed the Blue Devils to turn those miscues into 30 points. That helped Duke rally from a 41-33 halftime deficit.
Duke trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. It only was able to cut the lead decisively after Southern Cal's Ashley Corral hit a 3-pointer with 15:17 left in the game to give the Blue Devils their final double-digit deficit to overcome. Down 51-41, Duke went on a 13-2 run during a stretch when it forced Southern Cal into six turnovers and a pair of missed shots.
"I liked our second half," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We showed fortitude and toughness. I wasn't happy about the first half. Being down 14 is a test. I think that's hard. It's hard to come back."
Thomas hit a 3 from the wing to make it 54-53 with 9:17 left to give the Blue Devils their first lead since early in the first half.
"It was just a defensive effort," Thomas said of Duke's second-half comeback. "We had to get stops to get offense."
But it wasn't until Karima Christmas hit a shot on a baseline drive that gave the Blue Devils a lead at 62-61 with 6:30 left that they'd hold the rest of the way.
Southern Cal coach Michael Cooper was assessed a technical foul at key point in the game with his team down a bucket. Hailey Dunham was called for a moving screen foul a split second before Corral was bumped going up for a shot. Cooper argued vigorously, maybe a bit too vigorously in the eyes of referee Joe Cunningham, that the Duke foul on Corral should have taken precedence.
" I take responsibility. It was heat-of-the-moment play and a coach should never put his team in that position in a close game," Cooper said. "But I thought we played well and held our own. Duke did a tremendous job coming back."
Southern Cal built and maintained its lead for most of the game with some sharp outside shooting. Duke allowed Southern Cal to hit 12 shots from behind the arc, including seven by Corrall, who finished with 26 points.
"We let them hit too many 3s," Cheek said.
The last shot from behind the arc that Southern Cal hit made the score 74-72 but Duke was able to finish the game off at the free-throw line as Thomas, who was 10 for 10 in the game, and Christmas each hit a pair.
Duke has nine days off before its next game when it travels to face Stanford on Dec. 15.
